French Toast rehouse frying adapters

[misterspockyall]

A month ago I began the journey of rehousing a Danelectro French Toast to make an homage to my Father's original Foxx Tone Machine. Being my first pedal project, there have been many bumps and bruises. I could have purchased a cheaper clone, but this is more of a personal passion thing for me.

The pedal in its new housing now finally functions. I've wired two 3PDT switches to control the effect and the octave. The switches w/ LEDs function as well as the new pots. I did not wire it for a battery. Being a noob, I purchased mono jacks for input/output and the DC jack only has two poles as well.

When I had finished the build, I played it for 30 mins without issue, and left it plugged in, switched off. When I returned the next day, it wouldn't power up, and I discovered that the power adapter (9v, neg tip, ~300mA) no longer worked with any pedal. So I then wired in a diode on the positive pole and swapped in another power adapter (same capabilities). It worked fine, until I switched it off while still plugged in for ~5-10 mins, after which time it wouldn't power on again, and the adapter was quite hot.

I am new to the forum, and to the craft in general. I have a multimeter, can do my best to describe my wiring or get pictures, and am willing to do my homework if I know where to look. Thank you

[mth5044]

How did you wire the bypass? Are you shorting the positive and negative from the power supply when you 'turn it off'? Does 'turn it off' = bypass? Or do you actually have an on/off switch for the power?

[misterspockyall]

Yes, switched off was referring to bypassing the effect. I do not have an on/off switch for power. I will attempt to write out how I have things wired and get some pics, and post back as soon as I can.

[armdnrdy]

Let's see a picture of your "rehouse" job instead of the exterior.

The problem lies beneath! 

[misterspockyall]

Here are some gut shots. It is a mess :/ The black tape is covering the circuit board from the French Toast. Ideally, my wiring is as follows.

-Green runs to/from the sleeve of the jack* and the 9v point on the board.
-Yellow runs to/from the tip of the jack* to the ground point on the board.
-Blue runs from Input jack to the input point of the board.
-Red runs from the Output jack to the Output point of the board.
-Orange wiring was used for Pots.

Here is my effect on/bypass switch:


Here is my octave switch (only optional when effect is on):


Without official schematics, I attempted research and follow what I could find on various websites regarding Dano rehousing and wiring True Bypass in general. Obviously I went astray, but I very much appreciate your willingness to look into this.

*Perhaps of note, I am using a metal jack which was shorting the whole project when mounted to the metal housing. I insulated it with layers of electrical tape and rubber O-rings on both sides.

[armdnrdy]

*Perhaps of note, I am using a metal jack which was shorting the whole project when mounted to the metal housing. I insulated it with layers of electrical tape and rubber O-rings on both sides.

lose the metal jack! Is the nut insulated? Use a plastic jack. This could be your problem.

I'm not sure what to say about the solder glob on the footswitch.

[PRR]

> Danelectro French Toast ...the power adapter ...no longer worked...  another power adapter... after which time it wouldn't power on again, and the adapter was quite hot.

Perfect for French Toast.

1) Beat together egg, milk, and vanilla.
2) Heat a lightly oiled power adapter.
3) Dunk each slice of bread in egg. Place on hot power adapter until golden.

Seriously: one possibility is that your "off" position really SHORTS OUT the power.

Agree that a metal shell power jack needs special care, and that solder-blob isn't right.

[misterspockyall]

Haha, I will get a plastic jack on order. The solder-blob (along with the whole job) is a mess, but I was trying to find a place to link all of my ground wires together at a single point. I had a wire nut doing the job before, but I wasn't confident that all the wires were secure.

Again, I apologize for dumping an amateur mess on a forum such as this. I'll update when the jack arrives.

[bluebunny]

The solder-blob (along with the whole job) is a mess, but I was trying to find a place to link all of my ground wires together at a single point.

You may also have melted the switch.      Bring all your grounds together at a jack lug - they can take the punishment.  (They also have more room.)

[misterspockyall]

Oh boy, I'll take the grounds to a jack lug, and research how to test if the switch is damaged.

[bluebunny]

Oh boy, I'll take the grounds to a jack lug, and research how to test if the switch is damaged.

Just connect one of your meter probes to the middle lug and then test for continuity at the other two lugs as you click the switch.  Continuity should alternate with clicks.  And the clicks should sound nice and sharp.  If it sounds like a golf ball colliding gently with a bar of soap, you may have had meltage...  Good luck.

[misterspockyall]

Thank you, very helpful. Busy week at work, but I'll report back after I have a chance to do some testing.

[misterspockyall]

I tested the switches for continuity and they worked as they should.

I desoldered the "blob" and have reconnected that grounding point to my output jack. I tested it through my amp and all sounds/switches functioned as normal, better now actually that i think the board is getting constant power (no more popping wen engaged). The only change was that I could now engage the octave LED (not sound) when the effect switch was off.

The goofballs that shipped my plastic 5.5/2.1 jack sent a 5.5/2.5 jack, so that is delaying the jack swap. That being said, I am confident that the electrical tape I have double wrapped around the shaft, and the rubber o-rings I have on either side of the mount are providing sufficient insulation. Prior to insulating, I had no power when the jack touched the housing, and when I tried teflon tape, it would cut out intermittently as the threads had cut through in a few places, so when those spots make contact, it shorted. I have none of those symptoms now.

I would love to test this new layout, but am down to my quality adapters and would prefer not to ruin them. Am I able to test for voltage at the jack when the effect is engaged/disengaged to see if there is an issue?

[bluebunny]

If you think the DC jack is the only thing likely to give you trouble, you can always remove just this jack from the enclosure (and perhaps wrap the body in tape) and proceed with your testing.  If you're worried about anything else, do some simple continuity testing beforehand.

[misterspockyall]

I got impatient and decided to test anyway with the adapter and pedal on my bench. Plugged it in and went through all 4 switch combinations with my hand on the adapter to unplug it if it heated up. Did at least 10 minutes on each combination and no temperature changes on the adapter. From there I left it plugged in for 30 minutes with both switches off to try to replicate conditions under which I fried the last one. Adapter was still cool.

I hate admitting that I'm not sure schematically what change made the difference, but it appears to be working. Hopefully it will continue as such.

Thank you for everyone who contributed ideas. They all led me to consider and test things I hadn't thought of, and the bottom line is I get to enjoy my pedal!